AURORA — Jeremiah Paige is long and lean, with an impressive wingspan. The 6-foot-4 Rangeview junior guard already has drawn serious interest from the major-college programs along the Front Range, and beyond.

On Saturday, though, the left-handed shooter’s 40-point, 10-rebound game in the Raiders’ Class 5A state tournament victory over Highlands Ranch drew him even more attention. It re-emphasized that only two weeks after turning 17, Paige is one of the state’s showcase prep players, most likely destined for collegiate stardom.

“My real knack is going to the rim and finishing,” Paige said. “I’m a spot-up shooter. What I need to work on is the pull-up jumper, the midrange game.”

Paige is averaging 21.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Raiders (20-4), who next play a Sweet 16 matchup Wednesday at Eaglecrest. Rangeview is two victories from a return trip to Boulder for Class 5A’s Final Four, which also would represent a chance for redemption. A year ago, at the Coors Events Center, the Raiders shockingly fell 66-41 to Arapahoe in the semifinals.

Rangeview coach Shawn Palmer called Paige’s productive night against Highlands Ranch “the best game he’s ever played” and not just because of his offensive numbers. Palmer praised Paige’s work on defense.

“It wasn’t just the scoring,” Palmer said. “He does what we need him to do.”

Paige was a part-time starter as a freshman, then full time as a sophomore. This season, he has shown signs of increased maturity on the floor, and colleges are taking notice. Paige said he already has received scholarship offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Denver, San Francisco and Manhattan.

“I always felt like a leader last year too,” he said. “But I wanted to lead by example, rather than by talking. This year, I’ve felt like I can lead by example and by helping guys out both.”

Up close, Paige looks even younger than he is, and the best guess is that he will grow a bit more and add at least a bit of bulk to his 170-pound frame before his high school career is over.

“He’s just scratching the surface on what kind of player he can be,” Palmer said. “That’s probably the reason why he’s got some recruiting attention. … They see it as well. He was our best player last year as a sophomore when we went to the Final Four. But he didn’t take over games the way he has. He’s grown as a player and a leader.”

Junior Trey Bridges, who averages 6.5 assists, is the Raiders’ starting point guard, with Paige listed as a wing.

“I don’t think I’ll be a shooting guard in college,” Paige said. “I’ll be a point guard, so I try to work on my dribbling skills. Bring the ball up the court, making sure that when we run plays, everybody’s in the right spot, set up right, and that we’re distributing the ball well. I’m playing the ‘two’ guard now, but I really feel like we have two point guards. On the court, we have two scoring point guards who know how to distribute the ball too.”

Jeremiah’s grandfather, Larry Paige, played two seasons at Colorado State before the Los Angeles Lakers claimed him in the seventh round of the 1978 NBA draft, back when the draft was a marathon, not a two-round sprint.

“He just said it’s hard work that gets you anywhere,” Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah spent his early years living in Denver with his mother, Amber Jones, before they moved to Aurora when he was in grade school. He returned to Denver to live with his father, Samir Paige, and attended Morey Middle School for eighth grade, but decided to rejoin his mother the next year and enroll at Rangeview.

“I had a lot of friends in middle school here and I felt a real bond with them,” he said. “I’d always wanted to come here.”

Paige and the Raiders — seeded third in the tournament’s Glenn Wilson Region — have won six consecutive games, with their last loss coming to Aurora Central on February 5. Their Wednesday opponent, second-seeded Eaglecrest, is 19-5. The winner advances to the “Great Eight” on Friday at the Denver Coliseum. The four region champions go to the Final Four in Boulder on March 15-16.

“It’d be fun to get to Boulder again and look at that court,” Paige said.”My freshman year, we only made it to the Coliseum, so last year I wanted to go further and that was to Boulder. This year, I want to go back to Boulder, and come out with a ring.”

Josh Perkins, Regis Jesuit, 6-foot-2, G, Jr. He is drawing interest from major programs. He already has scholarship offers from Kansas, Arizona, Gonzaga, Colorado and Stanford, among others. Duke also is showing interest.

Dom Collier, Denver East, 6-1, G, Jr. He has been on the national radar since the eighth grade. Arizona and UCLA are his biggest offers, along with Colorado. Collier has drawn interest from North Carolina and Kansas.

Jeremiah Paige, Rangeview, 6-4, G, Jr. A big-time regional recruit, he has every program in the state interested. He’s the type of kid who could “blow up” with a great summer and senior season.

De’Ron Davis, Overland, 6-8, F, Fr. Davis may become one of the most coveted basketball recruits in Colorado history. Indiana has already offered him a scholarship, and some recruiting services think he’ll be a top-five recruit nationally.

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year six times -- three times each in Oregon and Colorado. He mainly covers college football and hockey for The Post. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion.

More in Sports

BOULDER — Six teammates who had celebrated with Rashaan Salaam through some of the highest points reached by the Colorado football program more than two decades ago trudged through the snow Friday to deliver their friend to his final resting place. They pulled the the wooden casket out of the hearse and placed it on the frozen ground and placed it...

It was expected to be a showcase for NCAA hockey … and it lived up to the billing. On the opening night of a rare regular-season two-game matchup of the top two teams in the national rankings, the No. 2 Denver Pioneers got a goal and two assists from forward Troy Terry and knocked off No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 4-3...